When Bryan Danielson was down and being checked on at the end of his most recent AEW match on the Oct. 25 episode of Dynamite, it was one of those “hopefully he’s not really hurt” moments. The fact that Kazuchika Okada seemed to be pointing and yelling at him suggested that maybe that was the case.
But as it turns out, the American Dragon really was injured during that match, fracturing his orbital bone. He reportedly has already had surgery to help him heal, which begs the question: Will we see Danielson back in the ring before the end of 2023?
And the answer is … maybe. On today’s AEW Control Center, Tony Schiavone acknowledged the injury and said Danielson will be out “until later in the year.”
The problem, of course, is that we’re running out of year as the calendar flipped over to November today. Recovery from orbital bone surgery generally takes anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, so it really depends on how quickly Danielson recuperates.
Danielson definitely fits the “I want to be back as quickly as possible mode,” and he’s recently admitted that he knows his time as a full-time wrestler is winding down. The addition of Worlds End to AEW’s pay-per-view slate on Dec. 30 provides an obvious place for him to return before 2024 begins if that’s what he wants to do.
After experiencing better luck with wrestler health compared to last year for the bulk of 2023, AEW has hit some misfortune down the stretch, losing Adam Cole to a freak leg injury and now Danielson. Jon Moxley also suffered a concussion in September which caused him to drop the International Championship during a match in which he was scheduled to win.
Still, it sounds like Mox will be good to go soon, and it’s possible Danielson won’t be out that long either. That would be welcome news indeed for AEW as it closes out another year.
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